A Rhode Island Supreme Court ruling last week paves the way for Deepwater Wind to advance the permitting and development of its planned Block Island wind farm, according to the developer.

The court upheld Deepwater Wind's power purchase agreement (PPA) with National Grid for the energy generated from the planned project. The Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission had approved the PPA in August 2010.

‘We'll now proceed to the permitting and construction planning phases of the project, working closely over the coming months with state and federal agencies as well as Block Island residents and other stakeholders,’ says William M. Moore, CEO of Deepwater Wind.

The project, one of two Rhode Island-area offshore wind farms being developed by Deepwater Wind, is a demonstration-scale, 30 MW offshore wind farm with five wind turbines. The farm will be located in Rhode Island state waters, about three miles off of the southeastern coast of Block Island.

The project is expected to produce more than 100 GWh of energy annually. It is expected that the wind farm will supply approximately 90% of the island's power needs, with the remainder supplied from the mainland grid via the Block Island Transmission System being developed in conjunction with the wind farm, according to Deepwater Wind.

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